A/N: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

Rukia stared at the calendar, willing the numbers to move, to conveniently rearrange themselves, to blur and disappear so she wouldn't have to face the terrible possibility that made her stomach churn.

"Hey, whatcha looking at?" Orihime peeked around her guest's shoulder, two mugs of tea in her hands.

Accepting the beverage from her friend, Rukia continued studying the calendar. "Ah, nothing, just the date." With her index finger, she stabbed Wednesday the 11th. "This is the date, isn't it?"

"It should be! 'Cause on Sunday they had a sale on green tea ice cream and anchovies at the food mart, so I made one of my super-special-yummy-sundaes! Then, after school on Monday, I made one for Tatsuki and brought it to her at her dojo, but she didn't want any. And then… ah, what did I do then? Oh yeah! I was going to take it to you guys before it melted, but it was almost seven and that's when my favorite drama comes on, so I hurried home to watch it. On Tuesdays I stay after to practice volleyball for the sports festival, and I remember I did that yesterday, so today must be Wednesday!" Smiling triumphantly, Orihime plopped her ample ass down in a chair in the living room.

Nodding slowly, Rukia eased herself into an adjacent chair. For the past two weeks, home life had been faked and strained. All she needed was an escape for the afternoon. Her and Ichigo tip-toed around each other like they were walking on eggshells or cracked ice or some metaphorical crap like that. The rest of Kurosaki family sensed something was up between the two, but pretended they were oblivious to the whole thing. A "lovers' quarrel" Isshin called it, jokingly. If only he knew how close to the reality of the situation he actually was! It wasn't like they were fighting; it was just… extremely awkward.

In any case, Orihime was overjoyed to have some company. Usually Tatsuki was the only one who bothered to visit her. It got lonely living all by yourself! For the rest of her visit, Rukia fidgeted in her seat. She was itching to leave, but didn't want to abandon Orihime without chatting for a bit. After an hour or so of mindless girly-talk, Rukia thanked the red-head and left the apartment.

Luckily, the drug store was on her way home. Her stomach churned nervously, the tea threatening to resurface.

"That'll be $18.99, ma'am."

Fumbling with the contents of her small purse, Rukia grabbed her wallet and fished out exact change. She didn't want to be there any longer than she had to.

The drug store clerk, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, scooped the money into her hand and proceeded to slowly count each dollar and penny. Rukia tapped the counter impatiently, urging the clerk to hurry. "It's exact, I promise. Right down to the cent."

"Thank you, ma'am." Pushing the last dime into the register, she handed the bag and receipt to Rukia. Quickly looking around to make sure no one was within earshot, the clerked leaned forward and whispered, "Good luck. I mean, either way. Like, If you wanted one or not. Good luck." Rukia understood the cryptic message and nodded her thanks.

She was going to need all the luck she could get.

The minute you start taking things for granted, the minute things go terribly, horribly wrong. "No, this can't be right. I—we—no, it's not possible. It can't be."

A knock on the door shook Rukia out of her mumbled denial, Urahara's voice following soon after. "Rukia, as much as I appreciate you coming to visit us, it concerns me that you've spent the whole time in the bathroom…" She heard the shopkeeper snicker through the door. "Do you need something, uh, checked out?"

Punching the door specifically where she knew ol' Sandal-Hat's ear was pressed, Rukia gritted her teeth. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. This gigai you gave me is faulty. Broken. Malfunctioning."

"Unlikely," Urahara rubbed his ear tenderly. "What's the problem?"

The petite girl looked at the plastic stick gingerly held between her thumb and index finger. This was the problem, and because it was a problem, she had a problem. A big problem. Well, more like a very small, living problem. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door a crack and shoved the objectionable item in Urahara's face. "This."

After taking a good-natured step back, he examined the pregnancy test from afar. Two pink lines. "Congratulations!" He pulled the door farther open, revealing a red-faced, wide-eyed Rukia. "Okay, so you're pregnant. What's the problem with your gigai?"

"THIS! THIS IS THE PROBLEM! How can I be pregnant?"

"Simple: a man releases his sperm into—"

"THAT'S NOT IT! How is it that I'm pregnant? I mean, this gigai is just a substitute body…"

Shrugging, Urahara pried the test from her hand and disposed of it in the bathroom's waste basket. "Well yeah, sure. But if it gets pregnant, you're preggers too. I made sure that there were consequences for everything that happened to a gigai while in use. I couldn't just let people get away with mistreating them." Turning around, he tipped up his green and white striped hat and cocked his eyebrows. "So, uh, who's the lucky guy?"

Rukia growled and pushed the ex-captain out of the way, making her way to the door. "None of your damn business, that's for sure."

"It's Renji!" When she didn't reply, he pushed on. "Oh, I knew it! 'Course, I didn't think he had it in 'im. He was always a shy one around you, huh? But man!"

"It isn't Renji!"

Urahara scratched his head, mentally flipping through a list of Rukia's possible partners. Who else was she close to? Captain Kuchiki? Eww, no. Not her adoptive brother. Captain Ukitake? Too old. That Ichigo kid? Of course, why didn't I think of that first? "Wait, don't tell me… it's—"

But Rukia was already out the door.

She stretched out the walk home for as long as she could. She window-shopped, smelled flowers, took a "rest" on a park bench… but before Rukia knew it, she was standing in front of the Kurosaki residence. Gulp.

"Well, here we are. Why am I so worried? I don't have to tell him. I'll just go back to the Soul Society, have the stupid thing, and Ichigo won't ever have to know." She mumbled to herself, wringing her hands nervously.

"I won't ever have to know what?" Whirling around, Rukia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of the orange-haired boy behind her.

A/N: As usual, it's time for the list of inadequacies I feel need to be addressed! Sorry, you can just ignore this…

If anyone has noticed, I'm not using honorifics when the characters address each other. Although it can really help portray the type of relationship some characters have, it's a whole lot of work for me to keep up with, and just having Rukia pregnant is enough for me. :P I blame my itty-bitty pea brain. Oh, and they're using American currency. LOCALIZATION FTW! :D I would like to apologize for my limited knowledge of gigais. So, if I kinda fudged something up, go along with it. It'll be easier for me that way.

Next chapter: We'll be jumping back to the present! (And then we'll probably jump back again later.)